Over the past few days new information about Basilisk Games' Eschalon: Book 1 has been revealed on the company's forums. Some of the updates for the RPG include the addition of a new low graphics option to aid owners of slower machines, discussion of a level 10 cut off for a character's extra hit point gain, and a status update on the game's progress.

We're working to optimize the engine and getting a little more performance out of it every week. Also, we've just added a "low graphics" option that shrinks the play window a bit and helps the game run smoother on slower machines...

Most of the storyline critical content is in place and we're applying lotsa polish now. It's amazing to go back an play a section of the game that was created six months ago and find dozens of things wrong (broken scripts, temporary dungeon sections that were never updated, etc.). In fact, I just found an NPC that spoke completely in gibberish ("dhg djgfajkg jshfg jhghfgas") because his final dialog was never completed...

We made the bottom cutoff for gaining extra HP level 10. So at level 10 he gets +2 HP and then another +2 HP every five levels after that (i.e. 15, 20, 25 etc.) Why have the level 10 cutoff? Well, it encourages players to distribute points a little more evenly than just piling everything into 1 category and becoming some freakish god, even though you could still do that if you want. Example: what if a player decided to make the ultimate Wizard by putting EVERYTHING into Perception and leaving Endurance at, say, Level 5. Well, if we do that using our current system, you would create some crazy mana-producing mage, but you'd have to use all that magic to protect yourself because with such a blatant disregard for your physical health, you will never naturally gain any hit points.

The PC version of Eschalon: Book 1 is tentatively scheduled for a late Summer release, with the Mac version coming sometime after that.